Summer Playscheme Begins

I have set up a new page to log our everyday activitites during the playscheme 2008.

Please click on Playscheme Diary for photos and more information.

Indira

Summer Playscheme 2008

CARIS is busy planning 2008 Summer Playscheme. The playscheme provides workshops and activities for chidlren aged 0-14yrs. All workshops and activities will be run by our qualified workers supported by volunteers. Workshops and activities will include; photography, drama, modern dance and music; plus messy play, story telling , puppetry and outdoor activities-weather permitting .

This year due to reduce funding the playscheme will run for 2 weeks. There will be a family trip to Clacton On Sea this trip has been subsidise to keep cost low for families.

Week One:

Monday 28 July –Thursday 31 July. The activities will be between 10-2pm bring a pack lunch

Week Two:

Monday 4 August – Thursday 7th August 10 am -2pm bring a pack lunch. There will be a performance and exhibition by children on Thursday th August at 2pm-all welcome!

Children under 8 years must be accompanied by parent or carer

Clacton on Sea – Saturday 9 August leaving from CARIS office at 8.30am prompt. Places are limited please book early to avoid disappointment.

To register and more information please contact Dorothea on 02088005300.

Below is the leaflet with information.

CARIS PLayscheme Leaflet

One World Celebration

It has been a busy, colourful and cheerful day for members of CARIS and its staff! We shared our stories, the food we cooked, we wore our traditional clothes and we made new friends. We travelled the world starting our journey from Jamaica, Montserrat, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Congo, Uganda, Somalia, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran, Germany, Turkey, Kosova, Poland, Albania, United Kingdom…

We celebrated and talked about the work of our volunteers who have supported us for many years and helped carry on our services. THANK YOU to all.

For more on this please click  on ‘One World Celebration’ page.

REFUGEE WEEK

Albert Einstein, Sigmund Freud, Thomas Man, Dante, Frederic Chopin, Marc Chagall, Victor Hugo, Chief Sitting Bull, myself and millions of people around the world are refugees! Not all famous or none famous refugees lived in the 20th or 21st century! A much earlier example is Publius Ovidius Naso (24BC- 17AD) or else known as Ovid, who was one of a most celebrated Roman poets. Ovid wrote “The Art of Love” which was considered to be inappropriate by the emperor Augustus who decided to banish him from Rome. During his exile Ovid wrote “The Metamorphoses” a collection of Greek and Latin mythology which influenced many famous writers such as Goethe, Shakespeare.

While in exile Ovid wrote: “Thrust among hostile people, I suffer every ill imaginable… No one is further from home than me.”

Dante wrote “La Divina Commedia”. Victor Hugo wrote “Les Miserables”, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame” and many volumes of poetry while living in Channel Islands… He writes of his experience:

“I love everything that suffers for freedom, for the fatherland and for justice; and I have a piece of mind, even though it is always painful to tread on a foreign soil.”

Sitting Bull the famous Sioux Indian Chief (Native American) struggled for the survival of his people. He led his tribesman into Canada and lived there for four years. In a statement to the U.S government he said:

” …I want to have the white man with me, but not to be my chief…I want to be seen and known that I have my rights…”

Einstein was accused of treason by the Third Reich and his books were burned. He was given refuge in U.S and used his influence status and financial resources to obtain visas for other refugees. During his struggle he stated:

“Politics are for the moment. An equation is for eternity!”

The gifts, skills and talents that each refugee brings enrich us and our communities. Let us celebrate, learn and be inspired; welcome all into our home, hearts and land. As the famous poet Benjamin Zephania wrote:

“…We can all be refugees and sometimes it takes only a day, sometimes it takes a handshake or paper that is signed. We all came from refugees, no one just simply appeared…we all came here from somewhere.”

Indira Beqiri

Sources: UNHCR  Famous Refugees, Refugee Council

ONE WORLD DAY CELEBRATION

CARIS is celebrating  World Refugee Day and  Volunteer Week on Wednesday 18th of June 2008. We are asking everyone to wear their traditional customes and be prepared to share the treasures of their country and culture through music, dance, poetry and  story .

Dates for your calendar: World Refugee Day 20 June,  Refugee Week 16-21 June, Volunteer Week 1-7th of June .

For more information or If you would like to take part please contact Dorothea on 02088005300.

 

 

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND NO “RECOURSE TO PUBLIC FUNDS”

Over the past few months CARIS has received requests for support and referrals of women who are suffering from domestic violence and have ‘no recourse to public funds’.

Women with insecure immigration status combined with ‘no recourse to public funds’, equates to the inability to obtain state benefits, which makes them even more vulnerable to the controls exercised by their husbands, partners, families and communities. They feel totally dependent making it more difficult to leave the abusive relationship. This affects the lives of the children caught in this web who often find themselves being the victim of physical abuse. Witnessing the violence can be damaging and can lead to them copying this violent behaviour or resulting in several behaviour issues. Children can also develop stress-related illnesses, it can cause loss of confidence, and they can become afraid and angry, and blame themselves for what is happening.

There are different categories of immigration status which women who are experiencing domestic violence fall under. It must be noted that due to the complexity of the nationality and immigration law, family law, children’s acts, human rights etc there is a need to assess these cases on a case by case merit. However, all of these women can obtain injunctions to protect themselves and their children by being “litigant in person”. Some are also able to access health care, benefits, housing, apply for indefinite leave to remain and get legal assistance though this list is not exhaustive.

These women experiences of domestic violence are often further exacerbated by their experiences of institutional racism making them much more vulnerable and at greater risks. When approaching public services for assistance they are often ignored and told that they can’t be assisted due to their immigration status or because of the label ‘no recourse to public funds’. Often their rights are not exercised properly and they are provided with incorrect advice.

As an overall view, although there seems to be a lot of rights available for this vulnerable client group, it must be noted that accessing these rights is a rigorous task and most women state that,” it is the hardest thing they will have undergone”. Some of the issues that these women face are, cost implications i.e. if they have ‘no recourse to public funds’ it can be virtually impossible to obtain legal help and representation due to the cost implications; therefore a lot of these women end up been “litigant in person” and need proper legal advice and support to ensure they understand the procedure involved and to ensure that they obtain the result needed.

If you need further information regarding the issues mentioned above, you have a client that is experiencing domestic violence or it is you experiencing domestic violence a list of specialist advisor’s dealing with family law and immigration law can be found at

www.communitylegaladvice.org.uk

www.lawsociety.org.uk

www.nationaldomesticviolencehelpline.org.uk

Indira Kartallozi

Senior Advice & Outreach Worker

Paradise Park Fun!!!

In spite of the weather and the rain this trip was a success! Children had fun and enjoyed themselves and so did the parents! The photos will say the rest:

HOW TEMPORARY IS ‘TEMPORARY’ REALLY?

Recently I’ve come across a single parent family that has been housed in temporary accommodation for 10 years!! I visited this household and was amazed by the cleanliness and order of the house . I discovered that corners were filled with boxes neatly placed on top of each other, boxes on top of kitchen cupboards, suitcases on top of wardrobes. My attention was drawn to the arrangements of three beds and a desk by each bed with pencils, paper, books etc The mother had carefully planned and divided the space in to three equal parts in order to provide space for the children to carry out school work. I praised her and enquired from the mother how she managed to keep the house so clean and in such order?. She answered: “I have no choice, because my daughter suffers from asthma and I must keep everything clean and dust free”

It is a concern for our borough knowing that 5200 household live in TA out of which 8000 are children! Families are trapped by the system, unable to work or earn enough money to cover the high rent charges and utilities. But not only that, the housing conditions and overcrowding affects the children’s health and their development!

I would like to hear from health professionals on what their thoughts are and ways in which they believe the system could be improved and also about their experiences in terms of disclosure in these kind of matters. These families do not need a handout, but a solution to their various issues.

WHAT IS CARIS?

“People who are homeless are not social inadequates. They are people without homes.” (Sheila McKechnie)

People lose their homes or become homeless for many different reasons e.g. unemployment, low wages, divorce, domestic abuse, mental illness, redundancy and financial problems. When approaching the local authority for housing assistance these families are not fully aware of the procedure, are unsure of the options available and often have to wait for the local authority to make a decision on their homelessness application which can be a long process and can cause stress and instability in the family life. In Haringey there is a shortage of social housing. Families deemed “priority need” have been placed in long-term Private Sector Leased for 3-8 years.

CARIS Haringey is a registered charity that works with and on behalf of some of London’s poorest and most deprived people – homeless families living in temporary accommodation. We operate right across the London Borough of Haringey, a Borough that has more than 5,000 households which are officially registered as homeless.

CARIS Haringey has been providing an holistic range of services for families in temporary accommodation since 1990. We are the only organisation in the London Borough of Haringey that exists solely to work with and for homeless families. Our services are open to everyone in temporary accommodation in Haringey Borough. We are accredited with CLS Quality Mark for general help with casework (housing, education, women, employment, debt, welfare rights, education, Refugee & Asylum Seekers) and with OISC level 1 -immigration. These accreditations mean we can be a ‘one stop shop’ for families.

“Homelessness for me was not just about having no place to live. It was about losing my independence and purpose in life, being isolated, humiliated and ignored.” (CARIS client)

We can be a ‘one stop shop’ for families who would otherwise have to attempt the daunting task of securing support; by offering advice on their legal rights offering a place where families can turn up to socialise, enjoy various activities with their children and for events such as our weekly drop-in or summer play scheme.

During this time families may experience problems with overcrowding, disrepair and conditions such as damp, condensation, electrical faults, damage to interior or the exterior building structure, infestations e.g. cockroaches and bed bugs, mice and rats etc. For some families CARIS Advice Workers is the only life line to deal with resolving disputes with landlords.

“…I was being truly listened to with a sympathetic ear and there was warmth in the reception I was given and I felt relaxed to unburden myself.” (CARIS client)

CARIS continues to raise awareness of the effects of homelessness and poor housing to families. Our efforts to improve communication with the local authority have proved positive. CARIS is part of Haringey Homeless Steering Group. This group has been set up to review and produce Haringey’s new Homelessness Strategy 2008-2011 that is fit for purpose and addresses local and national priorities. CARIS is committed to partnership working so that we continue to “make a difference” for the vulnerable families and their children in our society and ensure temporary accommodation is more than a “just a roof”.

This blog is for all residents of Haringey and professionals seeking advice or sharing experiences they have working with families affected by homelessness. Please visit our website for more information www.carisharingey.org.uk

Indira Kartallozi

Senior Advice & Outreach Worker